Key Taliban commander killed in drone strike

This one was a friend of Pakistan, having signed a peace treaty with the army in 2009. But he boasted of killing Americans in Afghanistan and held sway over a large territory in Waziristan.
Reuters:
A U.S. drone strike killed a key Taliban commander, his deputy and eight others in northwest Pakistan, intelligence sources and tribal leaders said Thursday, deaths that could substantially alter the power balance in the Taliban heartland of Waziristan.
Maulvi Nazir Wazir, also known as Mullah Nazir, was killed on Wednesday night when missiles struck a mud house in South Waziristan, near the Afghan border, intelligence sources and residents said.
He had survived at least one previous drone attack and was wounded weeks earlier in a bomb attack believed to have been launched by Taliban rivals.
His key commanders and his deputy, Ratta Khan, were also killed in the attack at Angoor Adda, near the provincial capital of Wana, sources said.
Nazir had expelled foreign militants...(Read Full Post)